ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the environmental impacts of conflict-driven population displacement in urban, rural, and forest environments. Rapid and large-scale displacement increases population density and the competition for resources in host environments, resulting in higher rates of water and soil pollution, deforestation, biodiversity loss, soil erosion, and water extraction. The mitigation of displacement-driven environmental impacts is currently challenged by temporal constraints, funding limitations of international organizations, and the complexity of multiactor collaboration. Overcoming these challenges will require (1) the institutionalization of sustainable behavior at local and national scales; (2) robust consideration of the geographic, economic, political, and social constraints and opportunities of host environments and displaced populations in camp layout design and resource allocation; and (3) development of programs that empower displaced populations and provide opportunities for collaboration with host communities. As climate change and population growth are expected to increase the number of displaced individuals, failure to mitigate the environmental impacts of disaster- and conflict-driven displacement can have irreversible effects on human and ecological systems.
